Bodily preserved Eocene non-lithistid demosponge fauna from southern Australia: taxonomy and affinities

Abstract

Exceptionally well-preserved non-lithistid demosponge body fossils are reported from outcrops of the late Eocene Pallinup Formation, Fitzgerald River National Park, south-western Australia. Among 11 species, eight are new to science and belong to heteroscleromorph orders: Bubarida (Eolipastrotethya picketti gen. et sp. nov., Monocrepidium unispiculatum sp. nov. and M. pauli sp. nov.), Axinellida (Phycopsis arbusculum sp. nov.) and Tetractinellida (Triptolemma solida sp. nov., Pachastrella intermedia sp. nov., P. australis sp. nov. and Geodia hopetouni sp. nov.). A further three species are representatives of the orders Clionaida, Bubarida and Tetractinellida. This fauna has clear affinities with living taxa. Close relationships with some Recent Atlantic species may be understood in the context of a Tethyan legacy. New light is shed on the evolutionary histories of several taxa that are reported for the first time in the fossil record.

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:6AA2FD29-A88E-49FA-B112-2FF4C6BE2787

Keywords:

• Demospongiae
• taxonomy
• fossils
• Pallinup Formation
• Tertiary
• Porifera

Acknowledgements

We are indebted to Paul Gammon (Geological Survey of Canada) and John Pickett (NSW Geological Survey, Australia) who helped to organize fieldwork in south-western Australia and the collection of the material. AP appreciated greatly their friendship during this trip. The study was supported in part by grant no. PO4 D03924 of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education to A. Pisera, and the Institute of Paleobiology. Study of the collection of Eocene sponges in WAM Perth would not have been possible without the help of J. Fromont and K. McNamara (Western Australian Museum, Perth). Linguistic corrections were made by Bernard Cohen (Glasgow) and Jane Fromont (Perth). We greatly appreciate their assistance.

We are also indebted to the anonymous reviewers whose suggestions helped to improve our manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego [PO4 D03924].